Following Edward Snowden’s Tweet that said if Obama should free one person, it should be Manning, over 117,000 citizens signed a petition asking the President to cut the sentence short.

The request didn’t fall on deaf ears. Last week, Obama spokesperson Josh Earnest said in a White House briefing that there was a “stark difference” between Manning’s crimes and Snowden’s actions, with Snowden’s being “far more serious and far more dangerous” and, to our mind, ultimately awesome.

Manning applied for a presidential pardon there years ago and was rejected at the time. This November, she said in a petition that her previous request was “too soon” and “too much”.

“I should have waited,” she said.

I needed time to absorb the conviction, and to reflect on my actions. I also needed time to grow and mature as a person.

I take full and complete responsibility for my decision to disclose these materials to the public. I have never made any excuses for what I did. I pleaded guilty without the protection of a plea agreement because I believed the military justice system would understand my motivation for the disclosure and sentence me fairly. I was wrong.

Manning says she hasn’t been able to get proper medical treatment for her gender dysphoria while being incarcerated.

“The bottom-line is this,” she says. “I need help and I am still not getting it. I am living through a cycle of anxiety, anger, hopelessness, loss, and depression. I cannot focus. I cannot sleep. I attempted to take my own life.”